Refugee Mother and Child by Chinua Achebe
In th poem
"Refugee Mother and Child" by Chinua Achebe the sadness of death is
shown by creating a tragic atmosphere by introducing shocking images and strong
words.
At the
beginning, in the first stanza, the author strikes us by telling us the child
will soon die; "for a soon she soon will have to forget." This strong
image of a mother and her son is more touching
than the "Madonna and
Child." The use of alliteration in "a son she soon" reinforces
the idea of proximity of death.
The author
uses simple and strong vocabulary, giving more emphasis to what is actually
said than to the way it is said. This also helps in creating the tragic
atmosphere by the use of words such a "diarrhoea" or "dried up
ribs" or "washed out bottoms." we can clearly see that the child
is suffering from starvation.
"When
the poet mentions the "ghost smile", she tries to express that there
once was a "smile between her teeth", but now it is slowly
disappearing, referring to a ghost, but
something still remains, she still remembers or longs for "her mothers
pride" .
The fact that
"Most mothers there had long ceased to care but not this one"
reinforces the idea that she still wants to share time with her son .
A very
shocking image used in the poem is the one where the mother combs her son,
"as putting flowers in a tiny grave",preparing him for his funeral.
The author
expresses the sadness of death by showing the way a mother says goodbye to her
son.
Have a little read: ... Analysis of
"Refugee Mother and Child" By Chinua Achebe The success of the poem
Refugee mother and child lies within Chinua Achebe's ability to present an
interfering, yet authentic and compelling poem. His own literary language is
blended in with images and descriptions that create a sense of compassion for
the unfortunate refugees. By skillfully contrasting the imagery of life and
death, showing irony of singing in the mother's eyes, and cleverly foreshadowing,
Achebe effectively helps to direct the readers towards the eventual death of
the mother's child in the poem. Using literary devices such alliterations,
contrasts, imagery, tones and symbols, Achebe proficiently specifies the
ultimate destinies of the protagonists in the poem. Achebe starts his first
stanza with the imagery of the famous painting of "Madonna and
Child". This metaphor of the painting symbolizing a great mother, and
Madonna being Mary, the mother of Jesus here, expresses a divine, soft and
tender feeling because in the bible Mary has always been a character of love,
loyalty and honesty, which is reinforced with the rhyme in the second line of
the first stanza between tenderness and forgets. The rhyme manages to reinforce
this because it has a flowing and delicate sound, which symbolizes Mary. The
two words "tenderness" and "forgets," also have a contrast;
forget being gone and tenderness showing a current situation. Achebe uses this
contrast to show, distinction between the refugee mother and Madonna, but it
immediately hints on the destiny of characters in the story. Mary's child,
Jesus passed away, and it seems to be that the refugee mother's child is also
going to depart. However, the writer clearly distinguishes images here. With a
very compassionate stanza in the poem, the second stanza changes into a very
different setting; "The air was heavy with odours/ of diarrhoea of
unwashed children...". This line shows the imagery of a dirty refugee camp
in contrast to the first stanza. Diarrhoea and odours give a very poor idea of
how life must be in the refugee camp. This contrast was probably set up to
really express the terrible state of the refugee camp, as the poem started in a
beautiful compassionate way, therefore suddenly changing to the deprived scene
of the refugee camp, emphasizes on its terrible state. Achebe also uses vivid
phrases and words "unwashed children with washed out ribs", creating
sense impressions. The repetition of wash emphasizes on
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